Want to know the risk related to Docetaxel and what is the ideal combination.

[Vasanta]

Suggested for Chemo Docetaxel 75mg/m2 3 weekly 6 cycle

2D Echo LVEF 50%-55%

The cardiologist said moderate-high cardiac risk and avoid cardiotoxic agents

My father is scared of Chemo

Want to know the risk related to Docetaxel and what is the ideal combination.

Is it mandatory to complete all 6 cycles could we drop in between?

When should we opt out of Chemo treatment?

[Shooter1]

You can always stop/drop out of treatment. If it is more than your dad can handle, lower dose and different spacing is available. Usually taken concurrently with ADT such as Lupron. I went through 9 cycles and should have stopped at 8.. neuropathy got worse and permanent. Best of luck..chemo is a step most of us have had to agree to.

[Vasanta in reply to Shooter1]

Thank You Shooter for your reply

My dad went through bilateral orchiectomy in Jan 2020 and taking Enzultamide as of now.

I will do research on "lower dose and different spacing is available"

[Shooter1 in reply to Vasanta]

Also had orchiectomy and on Enzalutamide. Look out for double whammy from both Xtandi and chemo at same time.. Half dose Xtandi is all my body will tolerate.

[Vasanta in reply to Shooter1]

Thank You Shooter1 for sharing experience

[Stevana]

Hi Vasanta,

I just had my fifth of six rounds of chemotherapy (Docetaxel) and have faired pretty well. I’m 68 and still hormone sensitive having been diagnosed this past March. I'm also receiving ADT of Firmagon as well as receiving an immunotherapy drug called Opdivo (as part of a clinical trial) along with the Docetaxel.

So far I haven’t had any major side effects. The SEs I have experienced are the usual fatigue, lost my head hair and some minor neuropathy in hands and feet. I also had a bad bout of thrush that was remedied with medication. This last round has caused some minor nausea for the first couple of days but is subsiding. My understanding is that SEs from Docetaxel are cumulative so they do increase somewhat over the course of chemotherapy.

I’ve been using ice therapy on my hands and feet during treatment to reduce effects of neuropathy. It seems to have helped as I have not had major discomfort in those areas. I also use ice chips in my mouth to minimize thrush and loss of taste. Not sure how effective this has been as I have very little taste right now and minimal appetite, but I am told this will return to normal once I’ve finished treatment.

Hope this helps. Everyone is different so it’s difficult to says whether or not your father’s experience will be the same. You can always stop if it becomes intolerable. Your support for him means everything. I wish him the best of luck on his journey. Stay strong and safe. 💪💪🌈🌈👍👍

[Vasanta in reply to Stevana]

Thank You, Stevan for sharing the experience.

We are working on preparing him and ourselves mentally for Chemo.

Will keep your tips in mind.

[JamesAtlanta]

Great advice from our fellow warriors. I went through 6 rounds of Docetaxel myself back in 2015.

I looked at chemo like this: It's like getting mentally prepared to have a mild case of the flu 6-times. Definitely ice your finger tips and toes/balls of the feet during the infusion. I iced my fingers, but did not know about the feet. Had no issues with my fingers or fingernails at all. But I have permanent neuropathy in the balls of my feet. Not the end of the world. Just feels more comfortable wearing shoes than walking around bare foot. I wore a polar cold cap, so never lost a hair on my head, although I lost it everywhere else. And the "swish and swallow" prescription medication handles any symptoms of thrush.

When you leave the infusion room, we always went to a restaurant to eat. I felt fine and was always starving...

The next day I always had a shot of Neulasta to increase my white blood cell count. If you have this, make sure you take something like Zyrtec. It helps stop bone and joint pain that is a side effect of Neulasta. (They failed to tell me this the first time and I was in quite a bit of pain until I took it.)

A couple of days later you start feeling bad. This goes on for 3-5 days. Nothing terrible. Just stiffness, flu like symptoms. A lot of fatigue. Highly recommend you force yourself to exercise. It helps a lot with fatigue and makes you feel better. Just walking is fine. But do it.

I did feel like each treatment was a bit harder on me than the one before. Its effects are cumulative. And if it gets to be too much, you can always delay a treatment for a few days or a week. Just speak to the MO about it.

My experience, overall, was that my fear of chemo was worse than the actual experience. I was able to keep working through it. I'd take the day off on treatment day (Tuesdays), work from home as best I could the rest of the week, and be back at work the following week. I even traveled on the off weeks a bit. I flew to the UK a few weeks after the last chemo. The trip was fine, but I had some swelling of the feet and needed to wear compression socks and take a diuretic to lose the water I was retaining.

I know everyone is different regarding their experience. But for most, it's not nearly as bad as they expect. And each treatment gets you closer to the finish line of the 6 rounds.

I hope this helps your dad. We are all pulling for him! And if he has issues, just speak to his doctor and ask this forum. I guarantee someone here can offer good advice.

Best wishes,

James

[Vasanta in reply to JamesAtlanta]

Thank You James, for sharing the experience.

This group helped me a lot with understanding.

O, God!

Bless all with Health and Wealth,

Bless all with Money and Harmony,

O, God! Bless all with Peace and Bliss,

Bless all with Wisdom and your Devotion

[Rondief]

I completely understand his hesitation and anxiety. One year ago, almost to the day, I was told that I needed to go through chemotherapy for 4 metastatic bone lesions. I did a bunch of research. I read a bunch of articles. I asked a bunch of questions on this website.

In the end, and while it affects everyone differently, for me the side effects were minimal. I suffered with constipation which was easily corrected with some over-the-counter medications. I lost all my hair, bald is beautiful! And neuropathy kick in at the very end but was gone about a month after my last treatment. For me, again, it was very manageable and did not affect my day-to-day routine.

Stay strong, be there for support, and always believe in your father. Let him know there tons of people, who never him, but are all pulling for him.

Take care,

Ron

[Vasanta in reply to Rondief]

Thank You Rondief for sharing the experience.

All of group members advice and experienceare giving me hope and courage.

[Doseydoe]

I would like to echo the advice from the previous posts and reinforce the message that docetaxel is a treatment that is tolerable. I had 9 sessions and found that putting moisturiser through my hair to be very soothing and good for the scalp. Eat when hungry, sleep when tired, go for a 20 minute walk every day, drink more water than normal and try an over the counter sleeping tablet to combat the "stay awake" effects from the steroids. 😎 DD.

[Vasanta in reply to Doseydoe]

Thank You Doseydoe, will follow your advice

"Eat when hungry, sleep when tired, go for a 20 minute walk every day, drink more water than normal and try an over the counter sleeping tablet to combat the "stay awake" effects from the steroids. "